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Afghanistan Veteran Strikes Gold At Invictus Games<br />
A VETERAN who had his left leg ripped<br />
apart by a bomb in Afghanistan eight years<br />
ago says he is the proudest man in the world<br />
after achieving gold medal glory at the<br />
Invictus Games.<br />
Greg Dunnings, who works at the School of<br />
Military which is based on Brewery Lane in<br />
Leigh, won gold for the UK in the four-minute<br />
indoor rowing event in Canada. <strong>The</strong> 26-yearold<br />
also came agonisingly close to winning the<br />
one-minute row in Toronto, Canada, missing<br />
out by just five metres in picking up a silver<br />
medal. Greg said: “Competing in the Invictus<br />
Games was an absolutely amazing experience<br />
and I am so proud to have won a gold and<br />
silver medal. “All the 5am training sessions I<br />
put myself through were worthwhile. "I<br />
Would you<br />
like to get<br />
better<br />
sleep?<br />
trained really hard for the games and was fully<br />
focused but it was not until I got there that I<br />
realised how good the games and the<br />
competitors are.” He also finished seventh in<br />
the shot put and competed in the discus and 50<br />
metres freestyle and breaststroke swimming<br />
events. Greg is no stranger to competing,<br />
having won several strongman competitions in<br />
the past and earned a silver medal at the WPC<br />
European Powerlifting and Single Lift<br />
Championships in Stoke last year. He had<br />
previously played rugby for the Army. Greg<br />
was medically discharged from the 1st<br />
Battalion Coldstream Guards in 2014 after an<br />
improvised explosive device (IED) left him<br />
with horrific injuries to his legs. A skilled<br />
surgeon managed to save his legs but Greg<br />
spent four weeks in hospital, four months in a<br />
wheelchair and four months on crutches. His<br />
platoon sergeant died in the explosion and<br />
another soldier lost both his legs. Greg added:<br />
“One of the best things about the games was<br />
meeting other athletes from different nations.<br />
"It made me realise that no matter where you<br />
are in the world there is always someone there<br />
who has been through similar experiences.<br />
“I definitely made some friends for life.” He<br />
now works as a military mentor in schools,<br />
using his experience to pass on practical skills<br />
SBT News Special<br />
to children.Greg, from Preston, will start a new<br />
career as a firefighter for the Lancashire Fire<br />
and Rescue Service in January. <strong>The</strong> eight-day<br />
Invictus Games, an international Paralympicstyle<br />
games for wounded, injured or sick<br />
armed forces personnel and veterans instigated<br />
by Prince Harry, ended on Saturday.<br />
Nightmares can be very frightening and have a significant impact on sleep quality<br />
and overall functioning. <strong>The</strong>y can also be repetitive and linked to traumatic or<br />
adverse life events from the past. <strong>The</strong> good news is that there is a very effective<br />
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Psychological <strong>The</strong>rapist<br />
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Approved by the Help for Heroes Research Approvals Committee and<br />
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For more information please contact<br />
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or email: mail@justinhavens.com<br />
| 6 www.sandbagtimes.co.uk
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